On December 25^th we will all gather together with family and friends to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord; what is arguably THE most well-known birthday in the history of the world, the birth of Jesus Christ.  This is the celebration of the Incarnation of the Son of God in human form.  This is the celebration that finds its culmination in the celebration of the bodily Resurrection of Jesus on the other great feast day of the Church year, Easter.  Almost everyone who celebrates Christmas at some point in time has included in the preparation and celebration the legend of Santa Claus.  The name “Santa Claus” is an English transliteration of the Dutch Sinte Klauus which in itself is a Dutch transliteration of Saint Nicholas, an historical person who lived during the third and fourth centuries AD and served the Church as a priest and bishop. 

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers. After his release, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church. The anniversary of his death became a feast day in the Church calendar, St. Nicholas Day, December 6th (December 19 on the Julian Calendar).

Through the centuries many stories and legends have been told of St. Nicholas' life and deeds. These accounts help us understand his extraordinary character and why he is so beloved and revered as protector and helper of those in need.

One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas is renowned as a gift-giver.

Thus we have the tradition of giving gifts in December, a tradition that has been incorporated into the celebration of the birth of Jesus.  As we travel down our Advent journeys of preparation this year, let us take time of pause to prepare our hearts to truly welcome the coming of our Lord into our lives by the grace and mercy of God through the free gift of faith and also to prepare for His return in all glory and honor.  As we draw closer to this year’s Christmas celebrations, let us remember that the greatest gift ever given in the history of the world was the gift of forgiveness and eternal life lovingly given by our heavenly Father to all who believe and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  This gift was given as Jesus lovingly and sacrificially gave His life so others may live.  Therefore, the greatest gift we could ever give to another is to share our faith in Jesus and through our sharing of the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, to bring that person to faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 

God’s blessings to all this Advent as together we prepare for the feast of the Nativity of our Lord. 

In Christ’s Service

Pastor Scott

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Glory be to Jesus.

Over the last two days of the church calendar, we have celebrated Reformation Day (October 31st) and today we celebrate All Saints Day and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (November 1st).  The attached article from Higher Things is a very good summary of the emphasis of the Reformation that is bedrock to Lutheran doctrine and teaching, salvation by grace through faith.  However, I also must add the following paragraph as, as a pastor, I have seen far too many Lutherans who are simply content not to commit any "major" sins like killing someone, but whose Christian life is far too hidden for almost anyone to notice.  This is why society is travelling so quickly down the road of blatant sinfulness, thumbing its collective noses at God, His Church, and His Word, because we Christians have for too long hidden our holiness and the light of Jesus within the doors of our lives rather than opening wide to the world and displaying through good works the free gift of the righteousness of Christ as "the righteous shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).  The following was posted this morning on my Facebook page.

Yes, it is indeed all about Christ. Our forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life in the presence of God is all about Christ. Additionally, we must also say, as faithful Lutherans, that it is also all about Christ and our 

living life in this world according to His will and not our own. It is all about living as if we truly are saved by the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone and not through faith in our own works. It is all about living a faithful life that gives witness to the world that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, not only of us Lutherans but of all people. It is all about being set free from bondage to sin and being slaves to the righteousness of Christ Jesus that is so freely given by our Father to all who believe. (Romans 6:1-14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 12:1-16; James 2:18)

For Lutherans, It's Not About Luther!

us2.campaign-archive.com

For our Higher Things friends and supporters, here are some thoughts on how to answer when you’re asked what it means to be Lutheran or what Lutherans believe.

The following is a repost from "Cyberbrethren, a Lutheran blog by Paul T. McCain.

We Pray

Almighty God, You chose Your servants Simon and Jude to be numbered among the glorious company of the apostles. As they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so may we with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

We Meditate on Scripture

Jeremiah 26:1-16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 15:17-21

Biographical Sketch

Simon was a simple Galilean, a brother of Jesus, as the ancients called one’s close relatives — aunts, uncles, first cousins; he was one of Our Lord’s four first cousins, with James the Less, Jude and Joseph, all sons of Mary, the wife of Alpheus, or Cleophas, either name being a derivative of the Aramaic Chalphai. The latter was the brother of Saint Joseph, according to tradition. All the sons of this family were raised at Nazareth near the Holy Family. (See the Gospel of Saint Matthew 13:53-58) Simon, Jude and James were called by Our Lord to be Apostles, pillars of His Church, and Joseph the Just was His loyal disciple.

Saint Simon the Zealot or the Zealous, was the name this Apostle bore among the twelve. He preached in Egypt, Mauritania (Spain), and Libya, leaving behind him the fertile hills of Galilee, where he had been engaged in the healthful cultivation of the vineyards and olive gardens. He later rejoined his brother, Saint Jude, in Persia, where they labored and died together. At first they were respected by the king, for they had manifested power over two ferocious tigers who had terrorized the land. With the king, sixty thousand Persians became Christians, and churches rose over the ruins of the idolatrous temples.

But the ancient enemy, who never sleeps, rose up, and when the two went elsewhere the pagans commanded them to sacrifice to the sun. Both Apostles, just before that time, had seen Our Lord amid His Angels. Simon said to Jude, “One of the Angels said to me, I will take you out of the temple and bring the building down upon their heads. I answered him, Let it not be so; perhaps some of them will be converted.” They prayed for mercy for the people and offered their lives to God. Saint Simon told the crowd that their gods were only demons, and ordered them to come out of the statues, which they did, revealing themselves under hideous forms. But the idolaters fell on the Apostles and massacred them, while they blessed God and prayed for their murderers.Saint Jude has left us a short but powerful epistle, written after the death of his brother James, bishop of Jerusalem, and addressed to the new Christians being tempted by false brethren and heretics. ”

- translated from “Lives of the Saints for Everyday” by Abbe Jaud.

The following is a copy of my pastor's page for the November 2013 St. Andrew-Rockton, IL newsletter.

…foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.  For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.                                                               1Timothy 4:3b-5

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Glory be to Jesus.

   On the last Thursday of this month we will once again gather together with friends and family to celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving by partaking of the divine blessings of food and fellowship with our loved ones.  As we do gather, let us be reminded of the fact that all we have in this life is a gracious gift from the Giver of Life Himself, the One True God, Father, X Son, and Holy Spirit.  Let us remember to thank God for the abundance of food He places before us and as we do, let us lift in prayer all around the world who have little or nothing to eat and ask the Lord of the Church to bless them  this Thanksgiving as well.  May we, at the same time, ask the Lord to open up doors of opportunity in the future for us to do something concrete to help the hungry be fed. 

   Let us remember to thank God for family and friends who gather with us, asking for His eternal blessing on their lives, while at the same time praying for all who stand alone on that day, asking the Lord to bless them with His presence, either directly or through the presence of others. 

   Finally, and most importantly, let us, this coming Thanksgiving Day, remember to thank God for His Son Jesus Christ, who gave His life so that we might have forgiveness and eternal life as well as an abundant life in this world.  Let us “choose life” as Moses calls the Israelites to do as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land as we, through Christ, already have the “promised land” of spending eternity with Him.  Let us “choose life”, not in an effort to earn life, but as a thankful response to the abundant blessings our Lord continues to give to us, just like the Israelites are called by Moses to choose life for the very same reason. 

   “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the Lord, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. Then the Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; if you obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.
   “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.
   “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;  in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it....I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”       

Deuteronomy 30:6-16, 17-20

   This Thanksgiving, let us remember that we did not choose God, but He chose us and freely gave to us His Son Jesus Christ.  Let us “choose life”, the life that is ours in Christ Jesus and let us then choose to actively share that free gift of life eternal with anyone who does not yet know the blessings of being a chosen, redeemed, forgiven child of God.  Let is truly enjoy, with all praise and thanksgiving to God, this Thanksgiving Day and every day, lifting all God’s people in prayer. 

God’s richest blessings to you all.

Today is October 23rd, the Feast of St. James, the Brother of our Lord.

Most American Protestants today believe James to be the biological younger brother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Unfortunately, this is contrary to what the Church has historically believed concerning St. James, and following the biblical teachings, as well as, the church traditions concerning Jesus, His Virgin Birth, and Mary, the holy Theotokos (Mother of God).  Here is a quote from Wikipedia concerning the doctrine of the Ever-Virginity of Mary:

The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary expresses the Virgin Mary's "real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to Jesus the Son of God made Man".  According to the doctrine, Mary was ever-virgin (Ancient Greek:ἀειπάρθενος aeiparthenos) for the whole of her life, making Jesus her only biological son, whose conception and birth are held to be miraculous.

By the fourth century, the doctrine was widely supported by the Church Fathers, and by the seventh century it had been affirmed in a number of ecumenical councils.  The doctrine is part of the teaching of Catholicism and Anglo-Catholics, as well as Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, as expressed in their liturgies, in which they repeatedly refer to Mary as "ever virgin".

Some early Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther supported the doctrine, and founding figures of Anglicanism such as Hugh Latimer and Thomas Cranmer "followed the tradition that they had inherited by accepting Mary as 'ever virgin'".  However, later Reformed teaching largely abandoned it.  The doctrine of perpetual virginity is, however, currently maintained by some Anglican and Lutheran theologians.

Dr. Martin Luther held to this doctrine of the ever-virginity of Mary even as he, later in life, began to reject other Roman teachings concerning Mary.  In the Latin text of the Smalcald Articles, the doctrinal "last will and testament" ("The Book of Concord" by Kolb and Wengert, page 295 paragraph 2) by Luther, Mary is referred to as "always virgin":

"That the Son became a human being in this way: he was conceived by the Holy Spirit without male participation and was born of the pure, holy [and always] Virgin Mary."  

The Lutheran Confessions are very clear that the Lord was miraculously born in such a way that not only was Mary a virgin before and during her conceiving and carrying Jesus in her womb but that she remained a virgin even after giving birth to Him.  It is also clear, in his writings and in his sermons on the Gospel of John, that Luther held to the teaching that Mary remained a virgin for the rest of her life and that the siblings of Jesus referred to in Holy Scripture were either step-siblings or cousins; and that he held to this teaching for the rest of his life.  Whether or not the Lutheran Confessions teach the perpetual virginity of Mary is not as clear.  At the very least, it seems to me that the confessions allow for one to hold to this teaching of the ancient church as a "pious opinion" but not necessarily as a Church Doctrine that must be held by every and all Christians.  What is obvious is that what we believe and teach concerning differing things often affects other beliefs and teachings as well.  My personal belief is in line with Luther, and the ancient Church, concerning Mary as the most-holy Theotokos and that she was a virgin all of her life.  Therefore, I believe, it is important to understand what the early Church and the early Church Fathers believed and taught concerning Mary which then influences what is believed and taught concerning the brother of our Lord, St. James.  The following is an excerpt from the OCA (Orthodox Church of America) site on the lives of the saints concerning St. James, whose feast day is October 23:  

Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord

Holy Apostle James, the Brother of God (Adelphotheos) was the son of Righteous Joseph the Betrothed of the Most Holy Theotokos (December 26). From his early years James was a Nazarene, a man especially dedicated to God. The Nazarenes vowed to preserve their virginity, to abstain from wine, to refrain from eating meat, and not to cut their hair. The vow of the Nazarenes symbolized a life of holiness and purity, commanded formerly by the Lord for all Israel. When the Savior began to teach the nation about the Kingdom of God, St James believed in Christ and became His apostle. He was chosen as the first Bishop of Jerusalem.

St James presided over the Council of Jerusalem and his word was decisive (Acts 15). In his thirty years as bishop, St James converted many of the Jews to Christianity. Annoyed by this, the Pharisees and the Scribes plotted together to kill St James. They led the saint up on the pinnacle of the Jerusalem Temple and asked what he thought of Jesus. The holy Apostle began to bear witness that Christ is the Messiah, which was not the response the Pharisees were expecting. Greatly angered, the Jewish teachers threw him off the roof. The saint did not die immediately, but gathering his final strength, he prayed to the Lord for his enemies while they were stoning him. St James’ martyrdom occurred about 63 A.D.

The holy Apostle James composed a Divine Liturgy, which formed the basis of the Liturgies of Sts Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. The Church has preserved an Epistle of St James, one of the books of the New Testament.

In 1853, Patriarch Hierotheus of Alexandria sent to Moscow a portion of the relics of St James. The Church distinguishes between the holy Apostle James the Brother of God, and St James the son of Zebedee (April 30) and St James the son of Alphaeus (October 9).

All this being said, it must be stated, along with Luther and in accord with the Lutheran Confessions and the teachings of the Ancient Church, that nothing is to be believed and taught that in any way reduces or interferes with the belief and teachings concerning Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ (Messiah), and the only intercessor between God and man (1Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 9:11-15; 12:22-24).  The saints, including the most-holy Theotokos, Mary, are to be held in holy reverence as those used by God, spoken through by God, and living examples of lives lived in glory, honor and praise to Jesus as Lord and Savior of all; but, they are not to be worshiped as there is only One who is to be worshiped, the One True God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit.  

"To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen." (1Timothy 1:17)

God Bless All Who Enter Here.

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." (Philemon 25)

This is my first entry in my new blog titled "The Nous."  My old blog with the same title is lost forever in cyberspace and, by the grace of God alone, I will try again.  Below is a re-post of the reason for my choosing "The Nous" for the name of my blog.  Please pray that all that is posted here gives glory, honor and praise to God.  In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.  Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.  It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.  Proverbs 3:5-8

   You've got to get out of your head and into your heart.  Right now your thoughts are in your head, and God seems to be outside you.  Your prayer and all your spiritual exercises also remain exterior.  As long as you are in your head, you will never master your thoughts, which continue to whirl around your head like snow in a winter's storm or like mosquitoes in the summer's heat.  If you descend into your heart, you will have no more difficulty.  Your mind will empty out and your thoughts will dissipate.  Thoughts are always in your mind chasing one another about, and you will never manage to get them under control.  But if you enter into your heart and can remain there, then every time your thoughts invade, you will only have to descend into your heart and your thoughts will vanish into thin air.  This will be your safe haven.  Don't be lazy.  Descend.  You will find life in your heart.  There you must live.  --St. Theophan the Recluse


Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  Hebrews 10:19-23